Smoking tobacco has been proven in many case studies to cause cancer, and is linked with many other vascular diseases. Particularly, consumption of nicotine has been associated with arteriosclerosis, heart attacks, cerebral strokes, and various forms of cancer. While it is generally agreed that nicotine, when smoked or otherwise used for non-medicinal purposes, has extremely hazardous effects, the addictive nature of the drug causes many people to continue to use nicotine products to their detriment.
Various treatments have been developed that are designed to aid a person desiring to quit smoking. However, most of these treatments involve administering nicotine to individuals in a form other than a cigar or cigarette. while such a treatment may at times remove the craving for nicotine, these anti-smoking treatments are more harmful to those who continue to smoke during the treatment. Furthermore, the fact that nicotine is being replaced with nicotine provides at best the removal of a habit of lighting a cigar or cigarette and smoking it, but does not provide a relief from the cravings of nicotine. So far, no single effective method has been developed for the treatment of nicotine-addicted humans, and no effective pharmaceuticals have been disclosed.
Many publications are dedicated to the possible effects of the application to DHEA, DHEAS, and precursors of such. For simplicity, the term DHEA, unless otherwise noted, can be interpreted to include DHEAS and analogues and precursors of such as will be defined hereinafter. Some patent publications disclose various therapeutic effects of DHEA. European publication EP-0627921 teaches the use of DHEA as an anti-carcinogen. International publication WO-9416709 teaches the utility of DHEA for treatment of cancer of the uterus. WO-9408589 teaches treatment of lupus erythematosus using DHEA. WO-9494155 teaches the use of DHEA to treat eye diseases. Other scientific publications exist concerning the treatment of breast cancer, and obesity. An article in the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology concerned the blood concentrations of twenty different steroids in relation to the concentration of the interneural fluid low affinity interaction of steroids with neuronal membrane-bound receptors.
One study reported that low ESTRIOL and DHEAS levels were noticed in pregnant methadone addicted women (Eur. J. Obstet. Gynecol., vol. 23, p. 67 (1986)). It was concluded in the report that methadone (and probably heroin) use during pregnancy was accompanied by a reduction of circulating DHEAS levels. Although a link seems to exist between DHEA and methadone, there is no suggestion in the article or otherwise that administering DHEA might serve to cure methadone or heroin addiction, or any other addiction for that matter.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a medicinal treatment of addiction to smoking tobacco and any nicotine containing drug. It is a further object of the invention to provide a medicinal treatment of addiction to other substances where the addiction is related to consumption of material or foods that are not naturally part of the human body, such as coffee, tea, alcohol, and various other drugs. It is yet another object of the invention to provide such a treatment without including administration of the very substance to which the human is addicted.